The beverage market is increasing all over the word, especially in Asia. At the same time health aspects are more and more considered by consumers. Fruit and berry beverages are increasing their market share. Berries, fruits and vegetables are recommended to be included in the daily diet. Different types of smoothies have increased their market share during the past years. Berries, fruits and vegetables are incorporated in different type of healthy in-between meal beverages.
WO 2004/014141 discloses the use of phytosterol, phytostanols and their esterified derivatives as a creaminess enhancer in food compositions such as dairy products, e.g. yoghurts or milk.
DE 100 63 288 discloses a mixed fruit, vegetable, milk and/or wine beverage containing up to 20 g/l added phytosterols. A process for producing the beverage is also disclosed, comprising adding a solution containing phytosterols and oil to a base beverage prepared from fruit, vegetables, milk or wine.
WO 2004/093571 discloses edible products with masked bitter, sour and/or astringent taste. The products comprise a sweetening agent and plant sterol ester, wherein the amount of sweetening agent is reduced compared to a regular product.
The Finnish Government Decree No. 498/2001 discloses the conversion of the amounts of preserved forest berries and mushrooms to corresponding amounts of fresh berries and mushrooms. The decree gives the conversion of juice concentrates to corresponding amounts of fresh berries.
The use of pectins has been disclosed by Ralet, M.-C. et al. Pectins, in Polysaccharides and polyamides in the food industry (ed. Steinbuchel, A. et al.) 2005, Wiley-VCH GmbH & Co. Weinham, Vol 1 pages 351-386.
WO 2003/055324 discloses a composition containing protein hydrolysate and plant sterol for improving serum lipid profile.
WO 2007/071038 discloses a composition for use in foods, beverages and nutraceuticals containing an emulsifier having a HLB value greater than 14 and one or more sterols or stanols.
WO 2005/074717 discloses a particulate composition containing a matrix of a protein or a carbohydrate, and fatty matter containing phytosterols dispersed in the matrix. The main product application is a creamer. The particulate composition may also be used in drink powders.
WO 00/41491 discloses a food product or beverage containing plant sterol and lycopene.
WO 2005/049037 discloses phytosterol dispersions made of free phytosterols e.g. in fruit juices by homogenisation.
However, there is still a need for cholesterol-lowering protein-containing beverages also containing berries, fruits or vegetables. This type of beverage is extremely valuable and nourishing. Especially, there is a need for cholesterol-lowering beverages containing berries, fruits or vegetables, and containing non-fermented protein.
In drinkable yoghurts, which contain fermented protein, there is conventionally quite a lot of sugar added to the drink; added separately or added to the fruit material, e.g. the jam which is added to the drink. Added sugar is not beneficial from a nutritional point of view and should therefore be minimised or preferably avoided.
Another drawback is that processing of drinkable yoghurts is time-consuming including the fermentation step. Also controlling the fermentation process demands resources. Drinkable yoghurts are therefore not so attractive.
In drinkable yoghurts and also conventional spoonable yoghurts the protein structure is changed as a result of the fermentation. This change will increase the viscosity of the product and therefore the addition of plant sterol ester and/or plant stanol ester is not a problem. The yoghurts will be stable and there is no creaming of the plant sterol ester and/or plant stanol ester. However, if the proteins in the beverage are non-fermented proteins the emulsifying effect of the non-fermented protein will not be high enough to emulsify the plant sterol ester and/or plant stanol ester causing separation of the plant sterol ester and/or plant stanol ester (creaming).
Creaming is therefore the main problem when adding plant sterol ester and/or plant stanol ester to protein based beverages containing fruit and/or vegetables, especially when the fruit and/or vegetables are included in higher amounts. The problem with this instability of this type of beverage has not been solved in the prior art.